The background of Oregon women's rights prior to Esther Lovejoy's daring campaign had been a political struggle involving many different personalities and strategies aimed at, but failing to achieve gender equality in that state.
Abigail Scott Duniway
Abigail Scott Duniway, a major leader in the Oregon Suffrage Movement had attempted unsuccessfully to secure women’s rights during the years 1906 to 1910. Duniway’s “still hunt” involved behind the scenes lobbying of male political leaders as a way of achieving goals. Duniway’s method failed repeatedly while other surrounding states passed women’s rights legislation. Women had achieved the vote in Idaho in 1896, Washington in 1910, and California in 1911. Meanwhile trends of support for women in Oregon continued to plummet. In 1906, 44 percent of statewide votes favored women getting the vote. By 1910, that number had fallen to 37 percent.
By 1912, Duniway exhausted from her fight was ill and could no longer play a major role. Arguments over financial backing and power lead to the creation of 57 separate organizations involved with suffrage statewide. These diverse groups proved beneficial as all were concerned with the singular intent of gaining the vote for women. Corresponding with all of these organizations was the Portland Woman's Club Campaign Committee (PWCCC).
Everybody's Equal Suffrage League
Esther Pohl Lovejoy might have remained an inconspicuous suffragist had she not been selected on January 12, 1912 as a member of PWCCC. Lovejoy was a noted Portland physician who came from a working class family. Her background influenced her labor consciousness and the importance of the working class vote. An active suffragist since 1906, her joining PWCCC, led to her involvement with other suffrage groups and her founding the Everybody's Equal Suffrage League. The League was a symbolic protest against the conflicts among suffrage organizations but also a celebration of the broad coalition of Oregon suffrage supporters and the populist promise of the campaign. The Oregon Journal wrote: the "notable thing about the league is its democracy, the membership includes both men and women, young and old, and from the humblest walks of life up to and including United States senators and supreme judges." (Jensen, 2007)
Lovejoy reflected personal experience when she spoke publicly on women’s right to vote as paramount in creating safe workplaces, fair wages and communities healthy for everyone. She worked tirelessly speaking at local gatherings, displaying signs and banners, placing suffrage materials in mailboxes and sponsoring suffrage slide shows in local theaters. During the annual Portland Rose Festival in June, she ran a “famous suffrage truck” two hours a day preparing and selling sandwiches, ice cream and drinks to festival goers. Her outreach efforts brought great suffrage publicity to the general public and served to build favorable support throughout Portland and the state of Oregon.
Women’s Vote and Beyond
The Oregon initiative for the women’s right to vote was passed in November 1912 by a narrow margin of 52 percent. Comparatively speaking though, the win represented a great turnover in public sentiment from the 37 percent of 1910. Lovejoy’s efforts could not have been more different than the approach taken by Duniway in previous years.
Esther Pohl Lovejoy’s suffrage life provided practical experiences in fundraising, organization and collaboration that would serve her well after 1912. It was but a crosscut in time for a woman whose life would be marked by many successful achievements in America and throughout the world. Lovejoy died in 1967 and her body buried in Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery.
